The present invention relates generally to electronic sequence type controllers for appliances and the like and, more particularly, to a sequence type controller which includes capabilities normally found on electromechanical motorized timer sequencers which electronic controllers are designed to replace, but which capabilities are typically not found in electronic controllers.
Various electronic sequence type controllers for devices such as appliances have been proposed, including the controller of the above-mentioned Simcoe application, Ser. No. 913,252, to replace the heretofore conventionally-employed electromechanical motorized timer/sequencers. A typical electronic sequence type controller replaces the sequencer portion of an electromechanical timer/sequencer with a digital electronic counter and is operable for advancing through a selected program in discrete program advancing operations. In order to determine the particular sequence, such controllers include a program memory means of one form or another. Usually, a means for accepting user cycle selections is also included so that various options may be selected. The total number of program advancing operations and thus the time required for execution of a complete program depends both on the basic programming programmed into the machine during manufacture, and additionally upon the user cycle selections.
While there are many advantages to electronic controllers, there are also advantageous aspects of the electromechanical type timer/sequencers which are not normally found in electronic controllers as heretofore proposed. Specifically, the electromechanical timer/sequencers typically employ a rotary dial and pointer which rotates slowly through all or a portion of a complete revolution during a machine operating cycle. Since pointer position is an analog of time, such a dial and pointer continuously indicates where in the cycle the appliance is currently operating, and how much time is remaining before cycle completion. Additionally, such a dial and pointer arrangement typically may be manually preset to various initial starting points in the cycle to accomplish various user cycle options, for example, in the event the controlled apparatus is a clothes washing machine, skipping a presoak operation altogether, or shortening the time required for an initial washing operation. When such a cycle option is selected, it is readily visually apparent approximately how much time will be required for the complete, but shortened, cycle.
Additionally, when servicing is required, for example to diagnose and replace a faulty electromechanical component such as an electromagnetically operated clutch or a water valve solenoid, it is desirable that the service technician be able to readily set the controller to any particular desired step in the machine operating cycle so as to energize a suspected faulty component. With the electromechanical type timer/sequencer this is readily accomplished by simply turning the dial to an appropriate point in the sequence.
The present invention effectively solves these problems related to the replacement of an electromechanical timer/sequencer in an appliance with an entirely electronic controller.